Categories

All- Over almost 8 years I have enjoyed sharing this with you and it has been fun. I’ve reached a lot of people and, based on various emails and comments to the blog touched a lot of people in a … Continue reading →

Through the Looking Glass {Food for Thought}

by Lauren

Welcome to our second installment of LYK Food for Thought. Read on for some helpful tips on keeping your glassware sparkly and clean!

Glassware abounds after having friends over for dinner. And who does the dishes in your house? Fortunately my husband is a wonderful person who stays up long after the guests have left, and he does ALL the dishes. I come downstairs in the morning, and you would never even know we had 10 for dinner! I LOVE it!

What are some of the tricks to getting it all done quickly and efficiently (without breaking anything)? Clean your pots and pans as you cook (I get that pleasure), and after serving salad, get those salad plates right into the dishwasher; the same goes for the main course. If you have a quiet dishwasher or a semi-quiet one, you can run it while working on the dessert, etc.

All you will have left after everyone is gone are the dessert dishes and all that glassware—especially wine glasses! Unlike other stemware, wine glasses are specifically designed to enhance the experience of drinking wine. But your wine glass won’t enhance your experience if it is not clean—fingerprints, leftover wine and marks can ruin the visual appeal. Very fine wine glasses are made of delicate crystal, and for that reason alone, they do require special care. Even non-crystal glasses look better when cared for by hand washing.

Wine connoisseurs agree that crystal stemware should be washed in very hot water by hand. Not all agree that dish soap should be used, but if it is used, be sure to rinse the glass thoroughly to remove all soap residue so that it doesn’t interfere with the taste and bouquet of the wine. There are different varieties of wine glass cleaner brushes, and they come in all sizes and shapes; find one you like because they do work great and make the job easier—less chance for breakage.

Drying the glasses is the last step. Do use the top rack of the dishwasher as a drainer for the glasses after they are washed. After about five have been washed, you can now get back to the first one, which has drained sufficiently, and get busy drying it. Linen towels work great as do microfiber cloth wipes. Of course the best linen towels are Torchons, but they will cost you a pretty penny! The good microfiber cloths are lint free and oversized so your hand does not touch the glass; they are also machine washable and can be used dry or slightly dampened.